Tuesday, October 5

Dear Friends,

Thanks for the poetry...it's fabulous, funny, moving, and really touching. I love your contributions.
Today we went to see my oncologist in preparation for my next treatment on Thursday and for an update. Tito is one centimeter smaller, and in total, it has almost shrunk in half. Now we really feel like we have this thing on the run. The doctor was palpating under my arm where there was further swelling and that too is down considerably. This makes thinking about the next treatment more bearable.
I ordered a Kindle on Friday (the result of heightened boredom and a handy VISA card) and it arrived today. I downloaded my first text, Ruth Rakoff''s new book *When My World Was Very Small.* It's the story of her challenges during treatment for breast cancer, including surgery and chemo. It's smart, sometimes very funny and recounts her treatment at a "cancer centre" in Toronto (which I believe is the Princess Margaret) with, I believe, some of the same doctors I have (only their initials are provided). I can visualize the rooms she describes, so too can I appreciate her fear, her anxiety in the tests, the sounds and smells. It's comforting to read the words of someone who is through the process and now healthy.
We ate Dorit's meatballs for dinner tonight with Catherine's homemade pasta sauce. Julie's ginger cookies for dessert (recipe posted yesterday). All incredibly delicious.
Will I remember how to cook when this is all over? With food this good, perhaps not...
Much love,
Kip